The Silverstone's poison frog is threatened by agriculture, habitat destruction, and illegal smuggling for the international pet trade.
Category: FaunaFacts
FaunaFocus releases a new FaunaFact every single day! These bite-sized bits of information are interesting facts paired with a unique image of that animal.
Silverstone’s Poison Frog
Prior to the Silverstone's poison frog's official description in 1979 as Ameerega silverstonei, it was known under incorrect names, such as Phyllobates bicolor or Epipedobates silverstonei.
Silverstone’s Poison Frog
The Silverstone's poison frog is "Endangered" due to its small, declining, threat-defined range and continuing decline of mature individuals due to illegal harvesting.
Silverstone’s Poison Frog
The skin of the Silverstone's poison frog's lower body and hind limbs is coarsely granular, gradually smoothing out in the skin of the head, forelimbs and ventral surfaces.
Silverstone’s Poison Frog
The Silverstone's poison frog is not a migrant.
Silverstone’s Poison Frog
The Silverstone's poison frog is known to be distasteful to snakes, but not much more is known of the frog's predators.
Silverstone’s Poison Frog
The Silverstone's poison frog's hind limbs are moderately long and the toe discs tend to be slightly wider than the finger discs.
Silverstone’s Poison Frog
To defend against predators, the Silverstone's poison frog's skin secretions contain small amounts of pumiliotoxin-A alkaloids that lack great potency.
Silverstone’s Poison Frog
The Silverstone's poison frog's head is generally as wide as the body and is characterized with a sloping and rounded snout.
Silverstone’s Poison Frog
The Silverstone's poison frog gains its brightly orange, red, and black colors at 1 year of age to deter potential predators.
Silverstone’s Poison Frog
The Silverstone's poison frog is endemic to the Cordillera Azul mountain range on the eastern side of the high Andes, Huánuco Region in Peru and can be found at elevations from 1,200-1,800 m. above sea level.
Silverstone’s Poison Frog
The Silverstone's poison frog is a diurnal, terrestrial and freshwater species that is found among the leaf litter of subtropical or tropical moist montane forests and wetlands.
Silverstone’s Poison Frog
The Silverstone's poison frog is a species of frog in the family Dedrobatidae and can be distinguished by its large size and the lack of stripes in its coloration.
Gerenuk
Both sexes of gerenuk are of similar size, but the males are more muscular than females causing them to outweigh them.
Gerenuk
Gerenuk have never been an abundant species and make up less than 0.5% of the total biomass of hoofed mammals in Tsavo National Park where it is a protected species and enjoys good habitat.
Gerenuk
The gerenuk was first described by Victor Brooke in 1879 and the species was named after the specimen-provider Gerald Waller's deceased brother.
Gerenuk
Male gerenuks guard their mates and perform flehmen tests, or lip curl tests, by sampling the female's urine to check for estrous.
Gerenuk
Gerenuk mothers look after their young until their weaned, and male offspring are weaned later than females.
Gerenuk
Female gerenuks give birth to 1 offspring, rarely 2, after a gestation period of 165 days, any time throughout the year depending on the quality of available nutrition.
Gerenuk
Gerenuks have a polygynous mating system as males will attempt to mate with as many females as they can.
Gerenuk
The gerenuk is adaptable and does well in a variety of habitats, inhabiting dry savanna and subtropical/tropical dry shrubland habitats.
Gerenuk
The gerenuk inhabits the dry, brushy region of east Africa from the Serengeti plain of Tanzania north along the coast through Kenya, Ethiopia, Eritrea, and into southern Somalia.
Gerenuk
As a game animal, the gerenuk is protected in most of its range in the form of tags or permits, and about 10% of the gerenuk population occurs in protected areas.
Gerenuk
Although it has a limited population and range, the gerenuk has been hunted for trophies and bush meat as an uncommon game animal in Africa for over 200 years.
Gerenuk
If current trends continue, the gerenuk may eventually disappear from large parts of its present distribution due to hunting, human encroachment, deforestation, civil conflicts, agricultural expansion, and drought.
Gerenuk
The gerenuk population is decreasing and the largest surviving populations occur in south-western Ethiopia and the northern and eastern rangelands of Kenya.
Gerenuk
Although the gerenuk is currently "Near Threatened", it's close to meeting the threshold for "Vulnerable" due to a decline of 25% over the last 14 years.
Gerenuk
Two gerenuk subspecies are recognized, the southern gerenuk or Scalter's gazelle, and the larger, northern gerenuk, also known as the Waller's gazelle.
Gerenuk
The gerenuk doesn't do well in captivity and has rarely been bred in zoos.
Gerenuk
Although rare, gerenuk contribute to nutrient cycling in the ecosystems in which they live through their foraging activities.
Gerenuk
Gerenuk have become a regular subject in the expanding world of photo-safaris and parks in Africa and help promote ecotourism.
Gerenuk
Gerenuk have evolved several anti-predator adaptations for survival as juveniles and adults, such as remaining motionless, hiding in foliage, and freezing at the approach of danger.
Gerenuk
The gerenuk is one of the world's most recognizable antelopes due to its defining features, and is known as the "giraffe gazelle" due to its long neck and long, thin legs.